In 2000, the National Transitional Jobs Network (NTJN) formed in response to changes in federal welfare legislation to support peer networking, technical assistance, and policy advocacy. From its early base of programs providing Transitional Jobs (TJ) for people receiving public assistance, the Network has grown to embrace Transitional Jobs programs for disconnected youth, refugees, and formerly incarcerated persons.
Through 2003, NTJN members assisted with development of welfare to work programs and established the effectiveness of TJ to connect individuals with barriers to employment to success in the workplace. By 2005, the NTJN evolved to include TJ as a reentry strategy for formerly incarcerated persons at the local, state, and federal level. In 2006, the employment needs of youth exiting out of foster care and juvenile justice systems became an additional focus for the TJ model.
The NTJN works to support and expand the size, type, and number of Transitional Jobs programs nationwide and to support the quality of the service model. NTJN fosters economic opportunity for America's workers by developing new TJ programs, building the capacity of existing TJ programs, and promoting a national dialogue on job advancement strategies. The NTJN accomplishes these goals through the following activities:
- Development and dissemination of communications materials and media outreach.
- Coordination of regional and national forums and conferences.
- Coordination of state and federal advocacy and policy development.
- Dissemination and support of TJ best practices, research, and evaluation.
- Provision of technical assistance to groups across the country.
The Network is led by a Steering Committee of 19 members, representing direct service, government, and policy organizations across the country. The Chicago-based Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights has served as the host agency and coordinator for the Network since the Spring of 2004, overseeing the management of the NTJN and serving as the Network’s fiscal agent.
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights was founded as Travelers Aid in 1888. Heartland Alliance is a service-based human rights organization advancing the human rights and responding to the human needs of endangered populations – particularly the poor, the isolated, and the displaced – through the provision of comprehensive and respectful services and the promotion of permanent solutions leading to a more just global society.
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Steering Committee
Joseph A. Antolin
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights
Allegra Baider
Center for Law & Social Policy
Sandra Bizzell
Cuyahoga County Department of Workforce Development
John Bouman | Vice-Chair
Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Jim Chastain
Kansas Department of Corrections
Maurice Ensellem
National Employment Law Project
Richard Greenwald
Center For Civic Innovation, Manhattan Institute
Clifford Johnson
Institute for Youth, Education, and Families,
National League of Cities
Linda T. Johnson
Georgia Department of Labor
Julie Kerksick
The New Hope Project
Paul Knox
Washington State Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development
Kelly Matter
Goodwill Easter Seals,
St. Paul, Minnesota
Roberta Meyers-Peeples
National HIRE Network
Marsha Murrington
The Unity Council
Linda Nguyen | Chair
Tacoma-Pierce County Workforce Development Council
Karen A. Pearson
Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc.
Melonease Shaw
Transitional Work Corporation
Mindy Tarlow
Center for Employment Opportunities
Sam Tuttelman
Social Services Agency,
Alameda County |
